Just one day after the end of the 2016-17 National Hockey League season, the Los Angeles Kings have announced that both head coach Darryl Sutter and General Manager/President Dean Lombardi have been relieved of their duties. The club also announced the promotions of both Luc Robitaille and Rob Blake. Robitaille has been named the Kings’ president and will now be overseeing all hockey and business operations for the club. Blake has now been named the vice president and general manager of the club, and will direct all day to day hockey operations for the Kings.
Dean Lombardi and Darryl Sutter both fired by #LAKings. Rob Blake promoted to GM.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) April 11, 2017
“This was an extremely difficult decision and was made with an enormous amount of consideration for what we have accomplished in our past. But the present and future of our organization is the highest priority,” said Dan Beckerman, President and CEO of the Kings parent company AEG, in a press release. “Words cannot express our gratitude and appreciation for what Dean and Darryl have accomplished for the Kings franchise. They built this team and helped lead us to two Stanley Cup Championships and will forever be remembered as all-time greats in Kings history. But with that level of accomplishment comes high expectations and we have not met those expectations for the last three seasons. With the core players we have in place, we should be contending each year for the Stanley Cup. Our failure to meet these goals has led us to this change.”
Dean Lombardi was hired in the spring of 2006, and as the club’s general manager, has had a record of 425-339-104. He also has the most games and wins among Kings general managers all-time and his 11-year tenure is the longest. His playoff record with the Kings is 46-35 with two Stanley Cup Championships won.
Darryl Sutter was brought in as head coach in December of 2011. He has gone 225-147-53 during his tenure as head coach. Sutter’s wins are most among Los Angeles Kings head coaches all-time and the games coached is second all-time (425 total). His playoff record is 42-27, with those 42 wins being a franchise record. He led the Kings to their two Stanley Cup victories in 2012 and 2014.
“This restructuring of the front-office will establish a single leader of the organization that will provide a unified vision, focus and alignment between the team side and the business side”, added Beckerman in the release.
AEG announces front office changes for the #LAKings.https://t.co/QOon3YfGiT
— LA Kings (@LAKings) April 11, 2017
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